JULY 17, 2023
CALL TO ORDER
PRESENT
VISITORS
MINUTES
BILLS
CONSTITUENT COMMENTS
Council in regular session was called to order at 7:00 p.m. in council chambers. President McNally presiding.
Dennis McNally, President Alfred Noble, Vice President Robert “Doc” Orr
Jeanne Miller Gregg Mitcho Jim Simonelli Doug Wright
Robert Stubenbort, Borough Manager Peter Burton, Mayor
Joseph Yochim, Solicitor Mark Corey, Engineer
Kevin Rafferty, Chief of Police
Dennis McDonald, Public Works Supervisor
Tim Knapp Bev Bible
Nancy Bronstein Ginger Cinti Shawn Wroblewski Jeff Gadley
Motion by Councilmember Noble to approve the minutes from the June 19, 2023 meeting. Seconded by Councilmember Mitcho. All in favor. Motion carried.
Motion by Councilmember Orr to approve the bills. Seconded by Councilmember Noble. All in favor. Motion carried.
Shawn Wroblewski the West County Emergency Management Coordinator mentioned that the West County EMA has signage available for Dan Rice Days that will help with traffic flow. Fairview Township joined the WCEMA.
A Cable Franchise “Open Meeting” took place during the constituent comment portion of the council meeting. Mr. Stubenbort read standard cable franchise meeting language aloud and asked if there were any questions. There were no questions or comments.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
EMS
MAYOR/POLICE
ENGINEER
MANAGERS REPORT
RESOLUTION 1-7-2023
Councilmember Mitcho said the Annual Fund Drive for Dobler Hose is underway and there has been a good response so far. The next event to be held will be the Chicken BBQ Dinner. There will be 750 chicken dinners to be sold during Dan Rice Days. Councilmember Mitcho said that A. F. Dobler Hose will soon have a new electronic sign that was paid for with a private donation.
Councilmember Orr said that he would coordinate the use of the signs from West County Emergency Management for Dan Rice Days. The EMA will no longer use Verizon and will begin using First Net which will be a significant savings.
Mayor Burton said that the Historical Society will have an open house tomorrow night to show the work that has been completed on the Yellow House. The Yellow House is now a SO-person small events center on the first floor and Air B&B on the second floor both of which can be rented. Jon and Gina Walsh from Full Circle Winery will be honored at this event for the amazing work they put into their business. Mayor Burton mentioned that he would be attending the upcoming Mayors Convention. George Drushel had an article in the West County news Journal concerning how much ECGRA grant money has been awarded to the Girard Downtown Partnership.
Chief Rafferty said that on the 12th the Girard Police participated in active shooter training at the school district. One eligible part time police officer will fill the full-time position caused by the retirement of Patrolman Hughson. A new part time position will then be filled from the current Civil Service List. National Night Out is August pt at the Girard School District.
Mark Corey reported to council that the Walnut Street water tank should be
in service the next few weeks. The tank should be operational within a month. The accessory fencing and paving for the tank will be complete in two weeks.
An amendment is required to correct a mistake that was made at the time our codified ordinances were put online with ecode. A paragraph from a previous ordinance that is replaced with Ordinance 723 was included with Chapter 133 as 133-7 on the ecode website. The paragraph conflicts with Ordinance 723 and has been removed to avoid future issues. Motion by Councilmember Noble to approve Resolution 1-7-2023. Seconded by Councilmember Mitcho. All in favor. Motion carried.
RESOLUTION 2-7-2023
FIRE TAX
WALNUT STREET WATER STORAGE TANK
NATIONAL REGISTER
CIVIL SERVICE
By this resolution the Council of the Borough of Girard, Erie County, Pennsylvania approves the rate for food truck permits to $50.00 per day. Motion by Councilmember Mitcho approve Resolution 2-7-2023. Seconded by Councilmember Simonelli. All in favor. Motion carried.
A fire tax of 1 mill has been discussed at many meetings and the need exists to help A. F. Dobler Hose to replace aging equipment. An Ordinance will be presented to Council at the next meeting. Council will need to agree on the 1 mill tax and vote on the ordinance at the August meeting. The fire tax will be collected by our local tax collector and deposited into an account. The council will review receipts submitted by Dobler Hose for release of funds. The borough currently pays for water and sewer service and the borough sells A. F. Dobler electric at whole sale. The borough also covers insurance for the fire department and pays for half of the workman’s comp insurance. In addition, the borough pays a stipend $40,800.00. The Council agreed to table the issue of continuing to pay for current expenses. Platea Borough voted for 1 mill, Lake City voted 1 mill and the Girard Township started at one mill but then decided they would only go .75 mills.
Motion by Councilmember Mitcho to assign the Borough Manager to advertise the fire tax ordinance implementing the fire tax at 1 mill beginning January 1, 2024. Seconded by Councilmember Wright. All in favor. Motion carried.
Road reclamation will take place at the end of the project. Konzel Construction Inc. has submitted payment number 4 for the Walnut Street Storage Project in the amount of $290,860.50. I respectfully request Council to vote in favor of payment number 4. Motion by Councilmember Wright to pay invoice number 4 to Konzel construction. Seconded by Councilmember Noble. All in favor. Motion carried.
Please find attached information concerning a plaque for the National Historic District designation as requested at the last council meeting. Council agreed to table the plaque discussion for another time.
The Civil Service Commission was able to have the Civil Service test for the position of part time police officer on July 10, 2023. Only one applicant took the test. The current Civil Service list will be exhausted with the hiring of a part time officer.
POOL The Girard Borough Pool needs a new water filter, pool water heater and a new Pool house water heater for the kitchen and shower rooms. It would be in our best interest to have these items ordered right away because there is likely to be a delay in the arrival of the new equipment. A request that Council appropriate up to $40,000.00 for the project.
MCQUILLENS BANDWIDTH
The transformer for McQuillen car charging station is installed.
As mentioned at the June meeting, with the connection of the police vehicles to the station for cameras and license plate readers1,the borough will need more band width.
Our agreement with Zito Communications is up this year. At the same time the borough is in need of significantly more bandwidth to keep our communications running smoothly. Please find attached our new agreement with Zito Media. The new total would go from $547.80 to $697.90 per month with significant upgrades with a new 10 year agreement. Fiber at Office would go from 10Mbps to 400Mbps. 3 Elines (Pool, Public Works, and WWTP} would go from the 10Mbps to 300Mbps. Motion by Councilmember Noble to approve the new Zito Communications 10-year agreement. Seconded by Councilmember Mitcho. All in favor. Motion carried.
WCPA West County Paramedics is now working with consultants from Strategy Solutions. Under the guidance of the consultants West County will form committees to discuss and recommend changes. The most significant committee is the finance committee. The Board has agreed to move forward with an outside billing company. The finance committee will discuss an across the board increase to all services, hiring additional personnel to cut back on overtime and opening negotiation for reimbursement from the insurance companies.
JUDGE GADLEY Honorable Jeff Gadley has been appointed as our new District Judge.
FIRE HYDRANT The fire hydrant at Vine and Wall was replaced on July 12th• Dan Rice will have three hydrants ready for the event.
ECAB PICNIC The Erie County Association of Boroughs summer meeting is July 19th at 6:30pm at the McKean Borough Park.
DEMAND CHARGES A local business complained about their electric bill from the borough on FB recently. This bill is comparable to other high use commercial businesses and is also comparable to similar businesses powered by First Energy. Demand has never been charged to residential customers or low use business customers.
HOMETOWN HEROS Dan Edder directed a letter to council concerning the hometown hero banners. Mr. Edder would like to continue the Hometown Heros project and have the banners lowered on the poles and turned in to be above the sidewalk or curblawn. Council agreed to have the banners lowered and positioned in from the street. The red borough signs will be changed to the road side of the poles and set at 15 feet. The Hometown Hero Signs will be set at 10 feet and turned to the sidewalk side of the poles.
MISC Councilmember Simonelli asked when the cable and phone lines that are wrapped around the poles would be removed. Solicitor Yochim said that the borough has a Verizon contact that said the work would be scheduled.
Councilmember Orr thanked the borough crew and police for their help on the fire calls.
Mayor Burton explained that the road sealing project was not done properly, and we need to call the contractor to have the roads fixed. The Borough Manager explained that the roads do not need fixed.
Councilmember Miller mentioned that Mary Miller, a local artist, will talk about the making of the mural and what it represents on Saturday August 5, 2023 at 5:30 pm. The Drool at the Pool event would be August 22, 2023 at 5:00 pm. The girardborough.com website is ADA compliant. The Downtown Partnership will request Council to make changes in the zoning ordinance to address signs and Main Street Apartments. The Washington Crusaders Marching Band will be in the Dan Rice Parade.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm for a five-minute break before going into executive session.
EXECUTIVE
SESSION At 8:35 p.m., President McNally asked for an executive session to discuss personnel and legal matters.
REGULAR
MEETING The regular meeting was called back into session at 9:42 p.m.
No other information was discussed.
ADJOURN Motion by Councilmember Orr and seconded by Councilmember Simonelli to adjourn at 9:43 p.m. All in favor.
Robert A. Stubenbort Borough Manager